Thanks for the Thanks

17082010

Today I received a nicely inscribed hardcover copy of War Like The Thunderbolt from its author, Russel Bonds. This replaces the advance reading copy (ARC)/uncorrected proof/bound galley I was provided for review (read that reviewhere). Russ also included a handwritten Thank You note on a cool card with an embossed image of The General, the subject of Mr. Bonds’s preceding work.

As you can see, my review while generally positive was not free of criticism. And lots of folks with much bigger wigs than mine reviewed Russ’s book, and some in more glowing terms. This is the first time any author has gone to such lengths to thank me for a review (though most are generally gracious). Bloggers who review books – as far as I know – don’t usually receive any compensation for doing so outside of the book itself. ARCs are first very, very difficult to review (they typically have no indexes or maps and very poor quality images if any) and second they are, well, worthless – we don’t like to put them on our shelves. So Russ’s gift was very thoughtful and fortunate, as this very successful book has gone into paperback and hardcovers are tough to come by. And don’t get me started on publishers who offer to provide pdf copies of the book. Double yoi!

Still, sometimes folks want to get the word out before the product is finished. Such was the case with Thunderbolt. Authors and publishers take note – this is the way to do things. Thanks, Russ – you’re one classy guy!

Does not surprise me at all. During my time as VP of Programs I was fortunate to have Russell as one of my speakers. His talk on his first book still resonates with our members here, as the speakers here tend to focus on the war in the Eastern Theater. Russell spent quite some time signing books after his talk, and was great to work with.

I had the honor of meeting Russell and his lovely wife at a talk he gave in St. Augustine. Class act all around. He met me at the door and welcomed me. He made my wife and I feel right at home at an SCV group where we knew nobody. I really enjoyed both his books and am looking forward to whatever he tackles next!

Dulce bellum inexpertis

“I am sending you these little incidents as I hear them well authenticated. They form, to the friends of the parties, part of the history of the glorious 21st. More anon.”

About

Hello! I’m Harry Smeltzer and welcome to Bull Runnings, where you'll find my digital history project on the First Battle of Bull Run which is organized under the Bull Run Resources section. I'll also post my thoughts on the processes behind the project and commentary on the campaign, but pretty much all things Civil War are fair game. You'll only find musings on my “real job” or my personal life when they relate to this project. My mother always told me "never discuss politics or religion in mixed company”, and that's sound advice where current events are concerned.

The Project

This site is more than a blog. Bull Runnings also hosts digitized material pertaining to First Bull Run. In the Bull Run Resources link in the masthead and also listed below are links to Orders of Battle, After Action Reports, Official Correspondence, Biographical Sketches, Diaries, Letters, Memoirs, Newspaper Accounts and much, much more. Take some time to surf through the material. This is a work in process with no end in sight, so check back often!